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12/5/18

Speaking of the Tower of Terror...let's muse

I've been thinking a lot about The Twilight Zone since my post the other day. You know what makes me happiest about The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror? The mystery.

I feel the same about The Haunted Mansion. It's the mystery in between the spots of well-defined narrative. It's the objects in the library that don't have a story. The tiny bits of detail in the Boiler Room that remind me of walking through the bowels of The Queen Mary.

It's all that wonderful possibility. Let's think about it while we look at some pics I took the last time I was there...

Whose suitcases are sitting in the lobby gathering dust? Where did the interior designers purchase their artifacts? Is there one cursed artifact that set off the chain reaction? If so, how on earth would we find it?

I realize, these are writer reactions.

As a viewer and consumer, the more things are defined for me, the more they lose their luster. Maybe it's because as a writer, I live to theorize. Maybe it's because as a human being, the unknown is a siren song. It's infinitely more attractive than the known. The more we understand something, the quieter the call to adventure. Ergo, the more mysterious, the more attractive.

Depending on your point of view, all of life is a mystery to solve. Where are you standing today? What looks like a spooky warning and what feels like an invitation. What details do you notice? And why?

Best of all, I love the way the Tower of Terror is frozen in time. Both in its own narrative of 1939 and in reality. Think of it. All the careful set design, imagineering, and creativity that went into building this place twenty some years ago is still manufacturing fresh thoughts and fears for me. For everyone.

This is one of my favorite places to linger. Over the years of living in Disney's backyard, I can't tell you how many stormy days I've gravitated here. To look in the windows outside the gift shop.

I've often dreamed of an anthology show or book of short stories based on individual items here. Isn't that funny? How I love the mystery of this place, yet I still long to define it? (Not the first time I've had this desire.)

Mystery is, after all, a catalyst.

Maybe it was an entire childhood spent watching The Haunting, Indiana Jones, or Frankenstein. Maybe it's that my mom created haunted houses for our community every Halloween, each with a distinct story. There's something in my DNA that draws me here repeatedly.

Even much more so than the bright shiny hotels I also love frequenting.

For the record, I know I've been astoundingly lucky to be able to do this type of navel-gazing at Walt Disney World. I do not take that experience for granted.

So where's your spot? Where do you go to zoom in on details or let your imagination run wild? What intrigues most about The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror?

Stealing is Wrong

All of the text and many of the photos here are exclusive property of Audrey Brown, (c) 2008-2018. Link without needing my permission, reference your little heart out (as long as I'm cited). Just don't steal.